Fence



July. 26, 1927. A H BALL 1,637,136

' FENCE Original Filed Sept. 24. 1920 Patented July 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR H. BALL, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

FENCE.

Substitute 1nd continuation of application Serial No; 412,425,fi1ed September 24, 192.0. This application filed'Airgust 30, 1926. :Ser-ial No. 132;64 8.

provide improved means for expeditiously andreadily securing a fence wire to or re- -movingthe same from a post made of any suitable material.

Another object of this invent-ion 1s to provide a construction which is applicable to fence posts made of a plastic matenal such as concrete, and to which the fencing may beclamped very tightly, so that, if any one portion of the fence between any certain fence posts isbiroken or loosened, the remaining portion thereof is not. affected dclete'rionsly. A further object of this invention 1s .to

provide means for quick and convenient replacementof anyportion of the fencing or the tighteningithercof. "Further obgects and advantages will appear more clearly in the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein .Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of improved fence post and showing a porstion ofwire fencing applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinalsection through the same-taken on line 2-2, Figs. 1 and 8. v

Figure 3 is an cnlaiged horizontal sect on through the said fence post, taken on llne 3-3,, Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is anenlarged fragmentary vertical section through one corner of the fence post, taken on line 4+4, Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view 50f 'thc'horizo'ntal forming. ring of the fence Y st. Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the vertical Wedgmg plate.

vFigures 7 and-8 are enlarged fragmentary perspective views of modified forms of vertical wedgi-ng plates.

Figurel) is an enlanged perspective view of a .modifiediform of forming ring.

Similar characters of. reference-refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The numeral 10 represents a ver-t1cal post which may be constructed of i any suitable material but in this instance is constructed wider fencing is illustrated. In the main body oft-he eon- .as a concrete the shape shown in the drawings, being that of a frustrated, square pyramid. The lower portion of said pillar is adapted to be sunk a sufficient depth below the surface of the ground 11, while the upper endof the same is adapted to carry any suitable suchas the Wire fencing 12 which crete pillar l-O'and parallel to the inclined, square corners thereof are four inclined forming bars 13, whichreinforce the pillar in a manner common to the reinforced .con-

As ,best shown in .Fig. -.5, .each (corner of each of said forming rings 1-4 is provided with a pair of locating .notohes 15 onerof which extends a short distance downwardly from the upper face-of each corner of said ring while a companion notch extends ashor-t distance upwardly, from the lower 'face of eachcor-ner of said ring. Formed at suitable longitudinal intervals in each of the aforementioned forming bars'13 is a loop shaped portion or .eye 16, inwardly of which is formed a. constricted pout-ion or-stricture 17 constituted of the neck of said eye 16. Before assembling thcforming rods and the forming rings and prior, of course, to pour-- ing the cement into the mold to form the pillar which is preferably of pillar 10,-the .eyes 16 and stricturesl? of the fonming bars are comparatively large as shown by dotted-linesin 4. That is,

the vertical hole or inner dlameter-of'each eye 161s somewhat greater 111 size than the vertical width of the main body of each forming ring 14 whilesthe vertical opening of the stricture 17 is somewhat-less than the vertical distance between any companion pairof upper and lowerxnotches 15. On one side of each forming ring 14 is formed an opening 18, By means'of this openingzeach of the forming bars 13 may be passed in succession through the said vertical opening 18 and then the main body of said ring It passed or threaded through the eyes l6 of the forming bars. These forming bars are then moved horizontally around said form,

ing ring until one tion each of the eyes 16 of each bar is pressed together manually by means of a heavy epincers or other suitable tool until the same is firmly locked into the notches 15 of each ring and until the opposite vertical inner faces of each stricture 17 come into contact with each other, as shown in full lines in Figs. 4: and-5. By this operation, all of the formmgrings 14 and the forming bars 13 are suitably clamped in proper position relatively to each other. This combined structure of united forming bars and rings forms the backbone of the fence post, the concrete or other plastic material being poured over the same in a suitable mold in the usual and well known manner.

Connected integrally to oneside of each of the forming rings 14: is a reduced neck 20 which extends horizontally and laterally out some distance beyond the outer face of the pillar 10. Formed integrally at the outer end of said neck is a clamping head 21, which projects or extends horizontally and laterally outwardly from each side of said neck 20. Adapted to be arranged against the front face of the pillar 10, is a wedging plate 22, which is provided with a plurality of horizontal slits or enlarged apertures 23 which are adapted to be passed over the aforesaid clamping heads 21. Extending vertically upwardly from the central part of each of these elongated apertures 23 is a longitudinal slot 24, which (as in the case of the elongated aperture 23) extends entirely through the wedging plate from the front to the rear face thereof. After the wedging plate 22 has been moved rearwardly against the pillar 10 and the elongated aperture-23 has been moved over the clamping head 21, the said clamping plate is then dropped vertically downwardly, the reduced neck 20 being received by the said longitudinal'slot 24. F or the purpose of causing the wedging plate to be forced firmly against the face of the pillar 10, each of the vertical longitudinal slots 24 is flanked on either side by a wedging shoulder 27, which, as shown in Fig. 6 may be formed integrally with the main portion of the wedging plate 22 by suitably stamping the same so as to form the said wedging, shoult'lers .27, the latter having front inclined or beveled faces which are inclined dmvnwardly and inwardly. the lower termini of which are substantially flush with the outer flat face of the main body of the wedging plate 22. lhesc inclined wcdging shoulders are adapted to bear against; the inner faces of the clamping heads 21, so that, as the clamping plate is driven down by a mallet or otherwise forcibly moved vertically downwardly relatively to the pillar it), said plate is caused to be forcibly jammed back against the face of said pillar 10. laasmuch as the aforesaid fencing 12 is adapted to be placed in position between the front face of the pillar 1t) and the rear face of the said wedging plate 22. it follows that said fencing is frictionally held very firmly and rigidly in position against the post so that when any particular portion of the fencing around a field becomes fractured, only the portion between two certain fence posts is affected, all the rest of the fence remaining taut and securely in place by reason of the fact that: the fencing is clamped rigidly to each and every fence post individually and cannot be moved horizontally relatively to any one of said fence posts, as is the case with ordinary removable fencing. To rcmove the fencing from any particular fence post, it is merely necessary to drive the wedging plate 22 vertically upwardly after which said plate and also the fencing may be completely removed.

A section of a modified form of wedging plate is shown in Fig. 7. In this case, inclined faces or wedging shoulders 270 are formed by crimping a wedging plate 220, the longitudinal slot 240 and the enlarged aperture .230 being substantially the same as in the construction previously described.

By this construction a certain amount'of resiliency is obtained between the said wedging plate 220 and the clamping head 21 with which it is adapted to engage, the metal bending at the crimped portion 30.

This resilient construction is adapted to compensate fora t'ault-ily constructed cement pillar which has the clamping heads 21 arranged at irregular distances from the face of said pillar. In such case, the particular pair of wedging shoulders 270 which is engaging with the underside of the particular clan'niing head that is closest to the pillar, will be bent inwardly or resiliently forced toward the pillar. This will allow the other wedging shoulders or inclined faces 270 to come into contact with their companion clamping heads and thereby allow the latter to press the fencing back firmly and equally against the pillar along the entire length thereof. A similar object is also attained by the modified construction of wedging plate whichis illustrated in'Fig. 8, wherein is shown a pair of modifiedwedging shoulders or inclined faces 127 which are formed byslitting and bending the main body of the wedging plate 122' to forms resilient, upwardly and outwardly extend ing elastic tongue or=wing E32," Centrally said tongue is provided with "the usual longitudinal slot 124 which is adapted to receive the neckQO' of the companion 'forming ring 14, while the front face 'ofthe elastic tongue is adapted to bear against the inner "face of the COII'YPfllllOH clamping head 2-1 as in the other constructionsof wedging plate.

It will be noticed that the upper end of the slot 124 stops short of the upper en'dof the tonguesothat there is no liability of the clamping head overriding the said tongue. A modified form of retaining ring 34 and modified forming bars 33 are shown in Fig. 9. In this case said forming bars 33 are constructed of flat bar stock, the eyes 16 and the stricture 17 of the construction of Figs. 4 and. 5 being eliminated. Furthermore, the retaining rings 34 are unprovided with the notches 15 and the opening 18 of the construction of Figs. 3 and The said straight metal bar stock or forming bars 33 of Fig. 9 are merely wired, in the usual and well known manner, to the square corners of the saidmodified retaining rings 34 and thus retained in place relatively to each other until the cement hasbeen poured around them.

It will be evident that a large number of absolutely uniform cement fence posts may be quickly and expeditiously made, if fabricated in accordance with the present invention. The forming rings not only give the proper shape to the forming rods, but look the same together in proper position as well. In addition to this, the forming rings act as exceedingly firm and permanent anchors for the clamping heads 21. Furthermore, the clamping plate may be easily applied to or removed from the cement pillar 10 so as to make very convenient the placing in position or the removal or repair of the fencing 12. Furthermore, the fencing when clamped in place, is prevented from shifting in any direction whatsoever relatively to each and every fence post to which it is attached. The resilient wedging shoulders 270 and 127 enable the fence post tofunctionproperly despite very faulty workmanship, maintaining at all times a uniform pressure against the fencing 12, throughout the entire width thereof. Furthermore, the metal work is of such simple form as to enable a manufacturer to send only the said metal work to a farmer, who can easily and successfully make and setup the fence posts and the fencing himself, certain chaplets, etc. being supplied, of course, by the manufacturer, that are not shown in the drawings. Itis quite well understoodfin the art, that cement work is easy to mold whenever the iron framework is of substantially the piece ofwork, asyis the case in the present materials and it is therefore to be understood that this invention is not limited except the terms of the following claims.

Iclaim: 1 p

"1. A'fence comprising a post, a support having a neck projecting laterally from the post and an enlarged head arranged at the outer end of said neck, and a clamping plate between the inner side'of which and the outer side of the post a fence wire is adapted to be clamped and which is provided with a slot having a narrow longitudinal portion adapted to receivesaid, neck, and a wide part at one end of said longitudinal portion and adapted to be traversed by said head and saidplate being provided on opposite sides of the longitudinal portions of said slot with inclined faces which are adapted to engage with the inner side of said head and produce a wedging effect for pressing the fence wire against said post.

2. A fence comprising a post, a support traversed by said head and said plate being provided on opposite sides of the lon itudinal portions of said slotwithinclined which are adapted to engage with the inner side of said head and produce a wedging effect for pressing the fence wire against said post.

A fence comprising a post, a support having a neck projecting laterally from. the post and an enlarged head arranged at the outer end of said head, and a clamping plate between the inner side of which and the outer side of the post a fence wire is adapted to be clamped and which is provided with a slothaving a narrow longitudinal portion adapted to receive said neck and a wide part at one end of said longitudinal portion and adapted to be traversed by said head and said plate being provided on opposite sides of the longitudinal portions of said slot with inclined faces which are adapted to engage faces with the inner side of said head and produce awedging effect for pressing the fence wire against said post, the longitudinal portion of said slot and said inclined faces being formed on a wing which is stamped out of the stock of said plate and is attached thereto at the base of said inclined faces and detached therefrom at the brow of said inclines so that said wing is resilient and engages yieldingly with said head.

4. A fence comprising a concrete post, a support having a horizontal ring embedded in said post, a horizontal neck projecting:

laterally from said ring to the exterior of the post and an enlarged head at the outer end of said neck, longitudinal rods embedded in said post and engaging with the inner side of said ring, and a' clamping plate between the inner side of which and the outer side of the post a fence wire is adapted to be clamped and which is provided with a slot having a narrow longitudinalportion adapt-i ed to receive said neck. and a wide part atone end of said longitudinal portion and adapted to be traversed by said head and said plate being provided on opposite sides of the longitudinal portions of said slot with inclined faces which are adapted to engage with the inner side of said head and produce a wedging effect for pressing the fence WIIB against said post. i

In testimony whereof I hereby afiix my signature.

ARTHUR H. BALL. 

